We came to Coos Bay last night and stayed in the parking lot of the Mills Casino. They actually have a full hookup RV Park but we did not think we would stay more than the night so we just parked in their RV lot of free.
We woke up this morning in the parking lot of the Klamath Falls Walmart. We are officially in the state of Oregon. That is one more state off of our list towards our slow and steady march towards see all of America.
Last night we spent another night boondocking at Walmart. So far on this trip, we have not had hookups. At the speed that we are moving and the places we plan to be visiting, hookups do not look like they will be in our future. That is ok since so far we have sunny skies and mild weather. That will keep us boondocking for many nights to come.
After a brief night in Campbell, we are ready to head north out of the bay area. We have never taken the Mish north of the Bay Area in California before so this will be virgin grounds for her. Before that happens, we are making a couple of stops along the way. First stop, 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino, CA.
Last night we drove nearly 300 miles to get to San Martin, CA to stay at the Camping World parking lot. The last time we were here was in February, 2010 shortly before we left for our first cross country trip. We spent that night here with our battery practically dead. It was cold and we had no way of heating the inside of the trailer. Last night was a little different. We are older, wiser and much better prepared for parking lot nights than the greener versions of us over 3 years ago.
It feels good to be back on the road again for an extended period time. We won’t really feel like we are in exploration mode until we move away from these familiar surroundings but I can’t complain with views like these from our front door.
We have been at our home base of San Pedro for almost exactly 5 months since we got back from our last cross country trip. During that time, we have spent nearly 2 of those months in the Mish traveling locally. Even though our trip is only going to be about 2 months before we need to be back for a wedding, we are seeding the plan for a much longer trip in 2014.
Meeting new travelers on the road is always a highlight of our Airstream trips. But we always know in the back of our mind that our time together will be short-lived. After our trip to the Eastern Sierras, the girls have been begging for some more play time with their little Airstream buddies, Lola and Hank, of Tin Foil House. So while they were making their way down the coast of southern California, we decided that a week together at San Onofre State Park in San Diego county would be a great idea.
The next stop is going to be our last one in the eastern Sierras before the caravan officially disbands for us to all go our separate ways. We will continue to head north towards Mammoth Lakes to camp at Crowley Lake. Before that happens, we are going to double down on the Burger Barn in Bishop before we leave because it is that good.
The third stop on our tour of the Eastern Sierras is to a city called Bishop. We are staying at our second BLM campground just outside of town called Pleasant Valley Pit Campground.
Today’s drive went like this: sea level -> 5,000 ft -> sea level -> 5,000 ft and the final descent took us to about 3,700 ft to Lone Pine, California. It was easily the scariest drive we have ever been on in all of our travels. Never again with the trailer. Never again. You all have been warned.
For the next 10 days and so, we are planning on exploring the Eastern Sierras. Why the eastern side? Well, everyone and their mom is always talking about Tahoe and Yosemite. And yes, they are crazy beautiful but it is time to give the Eastern Sierras some love. You with me?
